Name: ‘No Slums In The Sunset’: Backlash over affordable housing development intensifies in western S.F. neighborhood
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‘No Slums In The Sunset’: Backlash over affordable housing development intensifies in western S.F. neighborhood

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In early January, anonymous attack posters were slipped into mailboxes and left on doorsteps in San Francisco’s Sunset District.The poster read, “No Slums In The Sunset.” It informed residents that a “7-story, 100-unit high-rise slum” was planned for the neighborhood and predicted that within two years the property in question — at 26th Avenue and Irving Street — would “become the best place in San Francisco to buy heroin.”The incendiary fliers, which also referred to project proponent District Four Supervisor Gordon Mar as a “CCP member” — for Chinese Communist Party — marked the opening salvo in a new west side development war. It’s a dispute that’s likely to escalate as city housing officials push to build both market-rate and affordable housing in neighborhoods that have been almost completely left out of the construction boom of the last decade.In addition to the proposed affordable housing complex at 2550 Irving, plans are under way to build 130 units of affordable teacher housing on 43rd Avenue, 98 units of low-income senior housing at Sixth Avenue and Geary Boulevard in the Inner Richmond district, and a 230-unit mixed-income complex at the Sloat Garden Center at 45th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard across from the San Francisco Zoo.The Irving Street project that raised neighborhood scorn is a seven-story family-housing complex proposed for the current site of the San Francisco Police Credit Union, which is downsizing and moving into the former Goodwill building a half-block east. The project, to be built by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp., would be for families with children making $38,450 to $102,500 a year, although 20% of the building may be set aside for formerly homeless families. The initial proposal calls for just 11 parking spaces.Mar, who campaigned on a promise to build below-market-rate housing in the Sunset, hopes the building will prove that increased density and economic diversity can be a positive force in the neighborhood.“The Sunset has always been a beacon for working-class families, yet as the housing crisis has worsened, it has become increasingly inaccessible for families of low to moderate income, and even middle-class families,” Mar said. He added that he will “do everything I can to facilitate more affordable housing in the Sunset.”But to say residents are skeptical would be an understatement.A Mid-Sunset Neighborhood Association survey of 133 immediate neighbors found that 82% opposed the project, 15.7% supported it with modifications and just 2.1% supported it outright. About 80% said they were concerned about crime and safety, 70% about property devaluation, and 81% about lack of infrastructure, especially parking. Nearby public transit in that part of the Sunset consists of the Muni Metro N-Judah light rail, one of the system’s busiest lines, and the 29-Sunset bus line.Opponents say a seven-story building would be out of scale with neighboring structures, which are mostly single-family homes. Several neighbors said they would welcome a three- or four-story building with 50 units and sufficient parking but not a 90- or 100-unit complex with only 11 parking spots. They say it would cast shadows on backyards, overcrowd Muni, and take street parking away from merchants and their customers.“Why can’t you make it three or four stories? Why can’t you make it in scale with the rest of the neighborhood?” asked Flo Kimmerling, a San Francisco State University anatomy professor who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 40 years. “It’s just too big — too high, too many apartments, too many people, too little parking. It’s not the nature of the people who would live there we are against, it’s the nature of the building.”But while Sunset residents may object to the details of the Irving Street project, in theory the neighborhood supports using tax money to build affordable housing. In 2019, San Francisco voters passed a $600 million affordable housing bond that included a “geographic equity provision.” That means projects in neighborhoods where no affordable housing had been built in recent years would be given priority.While the Sunset had a smaller percentage of supporters than more liberal neighborhoods like the Haight or the Mission, the measure still won with 56.9% of the vote in District Four.Mar said the need in the Sunset is especially urgent. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, the city received more than 5,000 applications for affordable units from District Four families — just 49 placements were made. None of those 49 units are located in the district, which is home to 1,100 low-income children whom the city defines as “high need.”San Francisco State University political science Professor Jason McDaniel said Mar deserves credit for taking on an entrenched group of homeowners who have nothing to gain from the development going forward.“There is a reason why this is the first affordable housing development in that area,” McDaniel said. “That is the hardest thing for a politicians to do — to impose short-term costs on a powerful group of constituents in exchange for something that will benefit the whole city over the long term.”Eric Shaw, director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, said the bond measure created a blueprint for what city voters want.“We have heard from a lot of folks saying they want to see geographic diversity,” Shaw said. “The question is, how can we change hearts and minds and make sure all people are welcomed here? If the neighbors’ only acceptable option is no housing — well, that is not something we are going to support.”Shaw said the Irving Street project could be altered, but that if it’s scaled back too much, it wouldn’t be feasible. Smaller projects are less likely to attract state funding and are less efficient in terms of the construction cost per unit. Underground parking is expensive and brings up the cost of the development.The parcel sits at the western end of a bustling neighborhood retail area with a grocery market, hardware store, four banks, sushi and dim sum joints, and shops selling discount household goods. The street has a bike store, a music store, an Irish bar, and hair and nail salons. Residents say the parking lot across from the popular grocery store at 25th and Irving is full by 9 a.m., and cars frequently block driveways.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.Resident Rumesha Whitfield lives in a two-unit building with her husband and baby, while her mother and sister live downstairs. She worries about crime and overcrowded Muni trains.“I want the city to invest in affordable housing, but I want the experiment to be successful,” she said. “Give the residents a chance to be successful. Give them a parking space. Make the building look and feel like it’s a part of the community.”Denise Daley, who has lived on 26th Avenue since 1974, said the seven-story building would turn her house “into a fishbowl.” She said she was suspicious of the fact that TNDC plans to have an on-site social worker. “What kind of apartment building needs a full-time social worker? Not one for families,” she said.Katie Lamont, director of development at TNDC, said a series of community meetings would help define the details of the building, and emphasized that there was a long way to go before the scope of the project is finalized. She pointed to studies showing that adding affordable housing into suburban or middle-class neighborhoods does not increase crime.“We know some people don’t want affordable housing at all, but we know that some people do,” she said. “Our intention is to tease out what people do want so we can focus on that as much as possible.”Lamont said she hopes Sunset residents will look at some of the group’s projects that are in more residential and mixed-income neighborhoods, like Mission Bay, the Western Addition and the Mission. She emphasized that many current Sunset residents would qualify for the new units.“When you interact with a bank teller. When you buy baked goods. When you eat out. When you ride the bus. When you pick your child up from preschool. When you take a book out at the library or go to a gas station to fill your car up,” she said. “All these people you are interacting with would likely qualify for affordable housing.”More for youAnd the project does have its Sunset District proponents. Matt Pemberton, a lifelong Sunset resident and executive director of the Sunset Beacon Center, said he understands but rejects the pushback.“Do I think the neighborhood is ready for the density? No, but I think it’s necessary,” he said. “I understand that a taller building creates shadows and shade, and that would be disconcerting. But, sorry, welcome to living in a city and having neighbors.”Housing advocate and Outer Sunset resident Maelig Morvan said the Irving Street project is especially important because it will lay the foundation for future development.“That is the best way to show neighbors that affordable housing can bring benefits to the community,” he said. “There is always going to be a few very loud voices in the room that are going to object to having low-income people moving into the neighborhood. They go to the meetings and write letters. But there are a lot of quieter people who want the housing. Those are the ones we need to organize.”J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

In early January, anonymous attack posters were slipped into mailboxes and left on doorsteps in San Francisco’s Sunset District.The poster read, “No Slums In The Sunset.” It informed residents that a “7-story, 100-unit high-rise slum” was planned for the neighborhood and predicted that within two years the property in question — at 26th Avenue and Irving Street — would “become the best place in San Francisco to buy heroin.”The incendiary fliers, which also referred to project proponent District Four Supervisor Gordon Mar as a “CCP member” — for Chinese Communist Party — marked the opening...

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J.K. Dineen

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‘No Slums In The Sunset’: Backlash over affordable housing development intensifies in western S.F. neighborhood

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